[Health status survey in a district with many immigrant children]. / En helsestasjonsundersøkelse i et distrikt med mange innvandrerbarn.

In Norway, prophylactic child health care is organized through local mother and child clinics, each of which serves a given population. This study summarizes the findings from the routine check-up of four-year-olds in a district with a high proportion of immigrant families. The sample consisted of 70 children, 33 of them from immigrant families. The ordinary check-up was supplemented by information obtained by means of a questionnaire, which was filled in by the public health nurse and the doctor in consultation with the parents. A validated scale, or checklist (BCL), for ordinary behavioural problems among pre-school children was also included. The findings must be interpreted with caution, one reason being the large socio-economic differences between the immigrant and the Norwegian families included in the study. Nevertheless, the difference between the eating habits of the two groups of children was striking, in spite of the emphasis placed on diet at the clinic. Another important finding was the poor knowledge of Norwegian among the immigrant children, which was obviously associated with the poor language skills of the mothers. Therefore, an important element of the preventive health work among immigrant children should be to encourage the mothers to attend courses in Norwegian.

[Iron status and weaning practices among healthy 1-year old infants]. / Jernstatus og kostholdsutvikling hos friske ettåringer.

Iron status and weaning practices were studied in healthy one-year-old Norwegian and immigrant children (from developing countries) attending Fjell Health centre, Drammen. None of the Norwegian children (n = 33) had empty iron stores (serum ferritin < 10 micrograms/l) or iron deficiency anaemia (serum ferritin < 15 micrograms/l and haemoglobin < 11 g/100 ml). Among the immigrant children (n = 37) the prevalences were 14 and 11% respectively. The immigrant children were given infant formula earlier than the Norwegian and drank cow's milk for a longer period of the first year. There were no differences between the groups as regards introduction of infant cereals or other types of foods (vegetables, meat, fish).

A Proposed Coil System for the Improved Realization of the Absolute Ampere.

In order to resolve the discrepancies which presently exist between the directly measured values of the absolute or SI ampere and the calculated values obtained indirectly from other fundamental physical constant determinations, one must design an absolute ampere experiment which will produce a result with an uncertainty of one half part per million or less. A new approach recently proposed by Kibble promises such sub-ppm accuracy. Presented here is the design and evaluation of a coil system which will fulfill the requirements of this new approach.